Robotics team prepares for regional competition

By Iva Kay Horner Publisher/Editor

Posted:
03/22/2016 04:00:00 PM MDT

Mecha-Maniacs Team 4386 president Gabby Tolan, along with several members of the team, provided a demonstration of their robot to the Brush Board of Education last week. Team members are headed to Denver this weekend for regional competition. (Iva Kay Horner/News-Tribune)

If there is one thing that members of the Mecha-Maniacs FIRST FRC Team 4386 are very proud of, it is that they are now "legit".Why? Because they are taking a Brush School District activity bus to this weekend's 2016 Colorado Regional Competition where they will be among the 52 teams competing for the top title. Participants will come not only from Colorado, but across the nation as well as from other parts of the world.Gabriella Tolan, a senior at Brush High School (BHS) and president of the local organization, along with several team members, demonstrated their latest robot at last week's meeting of the Brush Board of Education.According to Tolan, the organization began with six Brush students in 2012. Since then, the team has grown to 23 students from Brush, Fort Morgan and Weldon Valley."There are only three members now who have been on the team before. We have a whole new group of people," Tolan told the board.The regional competition, to be held at the University of Denver, Ritchie Center, March 24-26, marks the end of Team 4386's season where team members, who form alliances with other teams, will focus on moving their robot across a variety of medieval-themed barriers to capture the castle."Our focus this year has been mainly to cross these barriers because they will be constant throughout the entire game," Tolan explained. "No matter what, we are going to have to get over those obstacles.

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"During their six-week building process, team members took the approach of building a 75-pound "compact" robot, she explained. "We thought of the design because of the terrains and obstacles we would go through. Most seemed like something a tank would go over, so we came up with a tank-style robot. We combined features so it will be able to travel efficiently over the barriers."One of those features comes from the "tank approach" with the team using high traction treads, that will allow the robot to climb. Another is the drive train often referred to as a "tank drive"."Obstacles we kept in mind were the low bar, which is one of the reasons our robot is small, compact and low to the ground," a team member stated, adding that the tank treads will allow the robot to grab efficiently and get over the barriers and high moat.Just how many hours go into a project? According to mentor Russ Kauk, over the past six weeks, team members met 20 to 25 times for at least four hours per session. "Each student has probably very easily put in 100 to 120 hours, give or take," he commented.In order for the team to compete, Toland explained members and mentors search out sponsors, which, in the past, has included NASA. "We do go out into the community," she stated. "We're one of those few teams that have a whole lot of sponsors, but we moved from large sponsors to smaller community sponsors. Basically we can walk down the street and seem them all."She continued, "Having community outreach affect so many people and having people recognize us has been a major goal and we have really succeeded in that."Robotics is not the team's only pleasure as they have expanded their outreach by implementing an LED program for senior citizens, with Tolan explaining they install up to five light bulbs in a senior's home. Additionally, Team 4386 has worked with the Morgan County Golden Stars by helping with present wrapping at Christmas."We have a lot of adventures as a robotics team but we always have fun," Tolan remarked. "We have a lot of interaction with different parts of the community."Another goal of the team, she continued, "is being able to show or inspire kids here that it is possible and something they can look forward to getting into high school. Future programs at Thomson and Beaver Valley definitely brings a development that the community will benefit from."The team is excited about this year's regional competition with Toland stating, "We are taking 24 people to the competition this year. It's amazing, especially since we are one of the smallest areas that has a robotics team, but we are becoming one of the biggest teams there with students. That's saying something for our area."There are 52 robotic teams in Colorado, and around 6,000 teams internationally, which is where the 4386 in the Brush team's number derives from.For more information on the team and their projects, go tohttp://www.team4386.weebly.com/ or contact Gerald Lyne at 380-8300. The Mecha Maniacs, founded on January 7, 2012, competed in their first Colorado Regional event in March 2012, at the Colorado Regional held at the University of Denver, where they made it to the final competition.

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